Improvement in ventilating-bungs



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOSEF BEEsoE, 0E BADEN, AUSTRIA, AssrGNoE or ONEEALE Hrs EIGHT To EENRY GATE, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN AVENTILATINGFBUNGS.

Specification forming `part of Letters Patent No. 203,580, dated May 14, 1878; application iiled April 9, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dr. JOSEF VBERSCH, of the city of Baden and Empire of Austria, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating-Brings; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to bungs for regulating the fermentation of beer and other malt liquors, and the object is to prevent the beer, Src., from becoming flat or spoiling.

The invention consists of a bung into which avertical pipe or tube is screwed, having two disks or pistons at its upper end, which iit into an inverted cup-shaped cylinder, which slides up and down on the pistons as the pressure increases or decreases. -In the upper end of the cylinder is fitted a rubber washer to prevent leakage of air through the tube.V A pin or rod is secured to the cylinder, upon which any suitable number of weights are placed, according to the different pressures desired, all of which will be more fully de scribed hereinafter, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure lis a side elevation of my improved bung. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the same. Fig. 3 is a section on line x w of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, A represents a common bung, which is driven into a barrel in the usual way. In this bung is screwed a vertical pipe, B, having two disks or pistons, b b', at its upper end, and arranged some distance apart. Each of these pistons is provided with a number of grooves or indentations, c c, on their periphery, to allow the air in the cylinder to escape. A cylinder, C, of light metal, is provided at its lower end with a collar to weight it, and slides up and down over the two pistons. At its upper end the cylinder G has a rod or pin, D, attached or cast to it, upon which any number of iiat weights d are placed to give the desired pressure. In JChe cylinder, at its upper end, is placed a disk or washer of rubber or caoutchouc, e, by Y which the mouth of the tube B is closed, as it comes in contact with it, when the cylinder C descends.

The operation is as follows: The tube B being screwed into the bung and weighted to the desired amount, the beer will remain at that point until gas is generated in suiiicient quantity to raise the weighted cylinder, when the surplus gas will escape through the grooves in the pistons into the atmosphere. The pressure on the beer is thus always kept at a uniform degree, and it will not become stale or flat.

rlhe advantages of the bung are, rst, the beer contained in barrels provided with this bung ferments perfectly even, and the eifervescence can be carried to any desired degree; second, the beer will not spoil or become stale orlflat, because over the beer there will be always a layer of carbonio-acid gas, and prevent the admission of air; third, the rising of the ferment sediment cannot occur, and the beer will remain perfectly clear, as it is well known that during sudden thunder-storms, in consequence of the sudden falling of the atmosphere in temperature, the sediment will rise in the barrels, and often beer that has already become perfectly clear will become muddled and ferment again; fourth, the bung operates automatically, and after it has been placed in position requires no further attention, the

principle being that the atmosphere exerts a certain pressure upon a certain sized area,

which would amount on one square millimeter to tengrams, or for one square centimeter to one kilogram. If, for instance, a surface of a certain size were weighted with a certain weight, whichwould be such that apower of onetwentieth, two twentieths, three twentieths, Src., of an atmospheric pressure were necessary to raise the weight, then evidently gas would have to be developed inthe fermenting beer until this had attained a somewhat greater pressure than one twentieth, two twentieths, &c., of the atmospheric pressure, when it would raise the weight and escape. By increasing-the weight, as will be readily understood, the tension of the gas could also be increased and retained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as ismy own I hereby affix my signature in pres- The barrel-vent herein described, consisting ence of two Witnesses.

of the plug A, tube B, provided with pistons DR. JOSEF BERSGH. I

b b', cylinder C, having rod D, and the Weights Witnesses:

d d, al1 constructed and arranged as shown, EUGEN NORSE,

and for the purpose herein set forth. v CONST. MANDRONIG. 

